Friday, March 26, 2010

State puts hold on several water-rights applications after story appears in the Kuna Melba News

The Idaho Department of Water Resources has put on hold a number of water-rights applications in an area of the southeast Kuna region until a study can be completed of the area, according to an exclusive story in this week's Kuna Melba News. Specifically, the department is concerned about a 13-square-mile area in which pending water-rights applications represent 47.74 cubic feet per second of water diversion, or roughly twice the current capacity of the city of Kuna.“We want to get a little better handle on the groundwater situation down there,” said John Westra, Western Regional Manager of IDWR. “This is more of a regional thing.”Westra said the move by his department was “routine.”The department has directed its hydrology section manager to report on a number of concerns, including: • the sufficiency of cold groundwater supply• potential injury to existing users and cumulative impact on current water-rights users • appropriation of groundwater for proposed uses in the public interest.The Kuna Melba News reported earlier this month on what the city of Kuna was characterizing as an “Arizona water grab” in the region. Of particular concern were a pair of water-rights applications on an Ada County-approved planned community called Vista, which was being proposed by a group of Arizona companies.

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About Me

I am the editor of the Kuna Melba News, which my wife, Nicola, and I purchased in September 2006.
I went to Syracuse University, receiving degrees in newspaper journalism and English textual studies.
My first day as a professional journalist was on June 24, 1994, at the Current-Argus in Carlsbad, N.M., where I met Nicola.
From 1995 to 1998, I was at the News-Herald in Mentor, Ohio, just outside Cleveland.
Nicola and I moved to San Francisco in 1998, where I went to work for the San Mateo County Times, eventually becoming managing editor.
In 2001, we moved to Rochester, N.Y., where I was an assistant metro editor at the Democrat and Chronicle for five years.
Nicola and I bought our first house and started our family, with our two sons, Luke and Robert.
Nicola and I also started to seriously consider purchasing our own newspaper.
We found the Kuna Melba News on a businesses for sale web site and purchased it in September 2006.